Colombian offices –Prosecution, the Colombian Institute of Family Well-being (ICBF, in Spanish), the Ministry of Justice, and the Programa Pisotón of the University of the North– announced a strategic alliance to prevent sexual violence in children. Every member will support the instruction, the resources, and the necessary staff to early detect possible cases and to act swiftly when these situations take place.
Prevention of Child Sexual Violence
The prosecutor in charge on the matter of Children and Adolescents stated that all the cases of sexual violence denounced over the last five years, only 10% have had sentences.
He also talked about the importance of believing in what children say to take the necessary actions. Statistics show that over the fiver-year period there were almost 150 thousand denounces for crimes against children, 10% of those had an actual sentences, and other cases are still being investigated.
Nowadays, Colombia is facing sex exploitation of minors, some of which end up in criminal networks, due to migration issue Venezuelan children live in the borders.
Many women, little girls and adolescents migrate looking for a better future and they partake as victims in these criminal networks where they found a way to make money.
The states of Atlántico, Bogotá and Valle del Cauca have the most cases of sexual violence on children. Colombia has 10,528 cases of sexual violence, this means an average of 39 cases every day.
The strategic alliance of the Programa Pisotón happens as a clear example of the psychosocial recovery of children whose rights have been violated. There are 500 communitarian mother being trained on how to approach abused children and how to notice these cases.
Programa Pisotón
The program of Psychoactive Development and Emotional Education from the University of Norte was created with educational purposes by using a method of developing different ludic activities, thus creating pedagogic alternative for teachers meant to help children and to prevent and reduce risk situations in their close environment.
The program takes into consideration the family, the institution and the community as a bridge to achieve the holistic development of children.
The educational ludic techniques used in this program are:
- Stories
- Psychodramas
- Game
- Reenactments
The idea with these activities is to facilitate expressing emotion, knowledge of oneself and the correct handling of children, their families and instructors in the right conditions of high vulnerability.
The impact of this program goes beyond border, it has been awarded with the Child Word Award in 2019, in the category of Professional Excellence by the World Education Organization, Omeedi, thanks to its work in favor of little boys and girls.
Pisotón has been leaving its mark for 20 years in the communities where it has been implemented, helping children express their emotions, to have an understanding of themselves, and to achieve conflict resolution in everyday situations as well as high vulnerability situations.
